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9/11 Education Materials

The Pentagon Memorial Fund is dedicated to offering valuable educational resources and materials surrounding the events of September 11, 2001 and the historic significance of the Pentagon Memorial. You can search the resources by keyword, grade level, subject, or specific resource type. To expand your search results to include the Verizon Thinkfinity community, please check the Thinkfinity box within the search field.

The September 11 Digital Archive uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the history of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath. The Archive contains more than 150,000 digital items, a tally that includes more than 40,000 emails and other electronic communications, more than 40,000 first-hand stories, and more than 15,000 digital images. In September 2003, the Library of Congress accepted the Archive into its collections, an event that both ensured the Archive's long-term preservation and marked the library's first major digital acquisition.

Browse: Explore the collection for stories, images, emails, documents, sounds, and videos of September 11

David Blight is a professor of American History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, at Yale University. He discusses 9/11, memorialization, and the American identity. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Nilufer Gole is a Professor of Sociology and Director of Studies at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Paris. Gole discusses Islam and modernization in Turkey and the challenges Turkey faces in balancing the religious and the secular. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Edward Berenson is a professor of History and Director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University (NYU). He also co-directs a French-American research center at NYU in partnership with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and is a partner on a three-year study with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum researching memory and memorialization. He has edited or written seven books (two in print) on British, French, and American political and cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

This short film highlights the outpouring of compassion and volunteerism in the aftermath of September 11, as well as the commitment to service which 9/11 continues to inspire. Click here to to access the video directly.

The teaching and learning guide is also organized around the themes of community-building and volunteerism. The centerpiece, an eight-minute film, The Spirit of Volunteerism: 9/11 and Beyond, introduces people who channeled strong emotions and feelings into constructive acts of human kindness. The discussion questions and activity suggestions are designed to encourage students to work together to commemorate 9/11 by participating in acts of service. This learning and discussion guide is presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information.

Hassan Abbas is a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center and a former Sub-Divisional Police Chief in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

These lesson plans and activities were developed by the PMF Educators' Leadership Group as a companion to the Pentagon Memorial Fund documentary entitled, “A Nation Remembers,” which tells the story of the construction of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.

These lesson plans and activities focus on the ‘everyday heroes’—people who worked at the Pentagon and helped with the rescue operations, those involved as first responders, and the individuals who lost their lives as a result of the attack. These materials best complement the documentary from 45 minutes, 19 seconds through 53 minutes, 39 seconds. For the most comprehensive understanding of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial and those affected by the attack, view the documentary from 34 minutes, 59 seconds through 53 minutes, 39 seconds.

These lesson plans and activities were developed by the PMF Educators' Leadership Group as a companion to the Pentagon Memorial Fund documentary entitled, “A Nation Remembers,” which tells the story of the construction of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Please click here to view the “A Nation Remembers” documentary.

These materials focus on the construction methods and symbolism found at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial as well as the family members impacted by the events on September 11, 2001 in an effort to help students understand the idea of memorialization and the importance of remembering certain events. This section of the guide best complements the documentary from 34 minutes, 59 seconds through 45 minutes, 18 seconds, with information about the architects, construction techniques, and symbolism to be found at 47 minutes, 35 seconds; 48 minutes, 40 seconds; and 49 minutes, 36 seconds respectively). For the most comprehensive understanding, the documentary should be viewed from 34 minutes, 59 seconds through 53 minutes, 39 seconds.

This lesson plan emphasizes the sequence of events that occurred before, during and after 9/11 to help increase students’ basic knowledge while correcting inaccuracies and misunderstandings. Although the activity centers on comprehension of this tragedy, it also encourages students to recognize the great courage exhibited on the day and during the days after 9/11 as well as evaluate how the country has changed since the attacks.This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will read accounts of 9/11 from a firefighter’s point of view and then will examine 9/11 through the eyes of other emergency personnel, including firefighters, police officers and other uniformed individuals. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will read the poem, The Little Chapel That Stood, and then discuss what the chapel represented to the people prior to 9/11 and the days after 9/11, in addition to their own reactions to the poem and the chapel itself. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will read Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey and then discuss 9/11 and its relationship to the story. Students will explore the meaning of the word hero and identify courageous traits, eventually evaluating why the fireboat’s adventures were heroic. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will understand how vital communication and team work are in the time of a crisis. They will understand the importance of training and preparedness and how federal, state, and local agencies work together in response to disasters using ICS and NIMS. This lesson is provided by the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. For additional information and for the resources, please visit their website.

In this lesson, students will view Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica. They will explore the meaning of the colors, symbols and purpose of the painting. Following that discussion, students will view and discuss various paintings in The Day Our World Changed: Children’s Art of 9/11. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.